"CRY IT OUT" AS THE JOYS AND PANGS OF CHILDBIRTH EMERGE

There can be few more life-altering occasions then welcoming a baby into your world. Creating a family is exciting, overwhelming, rewarding and, in mostinstances, an experimental learning trial depending on how well prepared you are for the changes that occur. It’s kind of a ready-or-not event.

Without the pains of childbirth, the New Haven Theater Company invites you to “Cry It Out” by Molly Smith Metzler, directed by Marty Tucker, weekends until Saturday, March 2, which takes us literally out of the warm comforting womb and into the realities of birth. Two new moms, with no one but their babies to coo to, meet over melons at Stop and Shop. Their instant recognition of need for support brings them to their shared backyard for more than friendship: a sisterhood. Deena Nicol-Blifford’s sassy Lina with her frazzled home life and economical needs is a wonderful contrast to Jenny Schuck’s privileged lawyer/mom Jessie, yet the two snap together faster than a small size infant onesie.

Jessie had a traumatic time at delivery that makes going back to the corporate world virtually impossible. How can she leave Allison, her miracle child? Lina, for all her smart wit, is terrified to leave her Max with her almost mother-in-law who drinks and lies about it. But she has no choice financially.

Enter into the backyard koffee klatch Ruben Ortiz as Mitchell who literally lives above them on a cliff of wealthy homes. His wife, Melissa Andersen’s Adrienne, is a successful jewelry designer who seems to be having great difficulty bonding emotionally to motherhood. He wants Jessie and Lina to help her cope.

Molly Smith Metzler writes from personal experience as a new mom so you will identify with many of the issues. The title refers to the practice of letting babies “cry it out” when put to sleep. For tickets ($20), go online to www.newhaventheatercompany.com. Check performances at the English Building Market, 839 Chapel Street, New Haven Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., and Saturday at 8 p.m. Come a little early and browse all the shelves of the market before you settle in the back in the theater’s intimate setting.

Explore the pangs and joys of motherhood, counting ten precious fingers and toes, hugging powder scented little ones, changing countless diapers, sleepless nights and adjusting to life with a miraculous gift. Let this talented quartet create a world well worth remembering.

MUSIC THEATRE OF CT UNDRESSES “THE LEGEND OF GEORGIA MCBRIDE"

Whether you’re a surgeon or a hair dresser, a teacher or a librarian, some times your profession finds you. Earning a living by impersonating The King, Elvis Presley, is not the easiest way to pay the bills, but for young show biz performer, Clint Hromsco’s Casey, it is all he knows how to do. In the world of entertainment, an actor can transform from one character or persona to another with a change in voice, a wig or a costume. With skill and talent, a complete metamorphosis can occur right before the audience’s eyes. When Casey finds his Elvis days are over, he is overwhelmed with financial issues, from unpaid rent to buying a pepperoni pizza on the installment plan. He has a moment of revelation: he must change, his name, his dress, his attitude and his act.

Norwalk’s Music Theatre of Connecticut is inviting you to that moment of Casey’s epiphany in Matthew Lopez’s “The Legend of Georgia McBride” stripping down to its bare essentials until Sunday, March 3. In the hands and other body parts by Hromsco, we see Casey struggle to support his wife Jo, an understanding and newly pregnant Teagan La'shay, with an optimistic outlook and a new wardrobe. With the encouragement and mama mentoring of Miss Tracy Mills, a helpful Russell Saylor, Casey finds himself on stage at a club, Panama City Florida’s Cleo Bar, as a drag queen. Cleo’s is run by Eddie, an enterprising and successfully evolving Scott Mikita.

Enter Georgia McBride and learn that Elvis has, indeed, left the building. With bows to Bette, Liza, Pink and Lady Gaga and others, Casey emerges in full feathers and flamboyant fashion. The drag queens strut triumphantly, with the addition of Rexy, an outspoken and sassy Diva Lamarr, who doubles as Casey and Jo’s accommodating landlord Jason. So what’s the problem with this picture? Casey forgets or neglects to tell Jo of his new career choice. Could he be ashamed of his new enterprise?

While Jo is responsible and realistic, Casey is optimistic and full of potential. With the green light from Eddie, and the encouragement and assistance of Miss Tracy, Casey sees the future through his rose colored glasses. Being kind, wise and dependable, Casey discovers that tolerance and diversity and being open to change and opportunity can be life altering. When he lip syncs a host of great songs, he is just hitting his stride. Kevin Connors directs this peek under the wig and inside the dress of a drag queen, with help from costumes by Diane Vanderkroef, sound by Jon Damast, lighting by RJ Romeo, and set by April M. Bartlett.

For tickets ($45-60, with special seats on stage), call MTC, 509 Westport Avenue, Norwalk at 203-454-3883 or online at musictheatreofct.com. Performances are Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Exciting news! MTC is growing with a capital campaign to expand its building. Go to www.musictheatreofct.com/newspace to donate your gift now.

For lessons in makeup, wig styling and drag queen dress, look no further than Casey and Tracy’s dressing room for a behind the curtain peek at a unique area of show business lore. You’re sure to be transformed.

CENTER STAGE SHELTON INVITES YOU TO SADDLE UP FOR A GRAND "OKLAHOMA !"

Howdy, neighbors, have I got a super duper, special show for you.

Grab your cowboy hat and enjoy! There’s plenty to love! If it had been about Michigan or Mississippi, history would have been quite different. If the title hadn’t been changed from “Green Grow the Lilacs” and “Away We Go,” it might not have won a Special Pulitzer Prize for Drama or become the first Broadway musical honored with a commemorative U.S. stamp. If millions of people hadn’t flocked to see it, it might not have been translated into over a dozen languages from Hebrew to Hungarian.

Now celebrating over eight decades of popularity is Rodgers and Hammerstein’s gift to American musical theatre, one of Broadway’s longest running shows, “Oklahoma!” Center Stage of Shelton will be decorating surreys and picking elephant high sweet corn until Sunday, February 25th in an effort to make this a remarkable theatrical experience, one not to be missed. This is pure Americana at its best.

This production, beautifully directed and enhanced by Liz Muller and choreographed with spirit and spunk by Brandy Bailey and Michael “Beetle” Bailey is guaranteed to present the sunshine of the Oklahoma prairie from the dawn of each “Oh, what a beautiful mornin’ ” as farmer battles the cowman for supremacy in the territory trying to reconcile how both can be friends and become a state at the same time.

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Love swirls around the Box Social as Will Parker (Paul Keegan) bargains for the picnic basket made by Ado Annie (Sandra Fernandes) and Curly (John Corraro) and Jud (Scott Sheldon ) try to outbid each other for Laurey’s (Maggie Kruse) offering. While Ado Annie has to deal with the fast talking salesman Ali Hakim (Marc Garofalo), Laurey’s dilemma with the sullen farm hand Jud and the energetic and engaging Curly poses the show’s real conflict in an otherwise sunny and optimistic landscape. A kindly Aunt Eller (Tammy D'Auria) and a feisty Andrew Carnes (Ram Gordon) try to keep the folks peaceful.

Songs like the show stopping title “Oklahoma!,” "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top," the lovely duet “People Will Say We’re in Love” and the comic “I Cain’t Say No!” attest to why this show is a classic family favorite. A intriguing ballet poignantly ends the first act. The cast is awesome and the festivities abound with joy tinged with sorrow.

Come early to hear tunes and listen in the intermission to Ike Skidmore’s Otter Jug Band. Also be amazed by the wonderful projections created by CE Simon and the creative use of tables for the cast to sing, dance and perform on throughout the show. The tables can be purchased. Premium ticket holders sit around these tables and enjoy their own box social.

For tickets($18 and up, premium $25 and up) call the Center Stage, 54 Grove Street, Shelton at 203-225-6079 or online at www.centerstageshelton.org. Performances are Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m.

If you weren’t lucky enough to be at the show’s premiere at New Haven’s Shubert Theatre on March 15, 1943, don’t compound the mistake by missing this outstanding opportunity to climb aboard the most famous surrey with the fringe on top and merrily ride into musical history. This talented cast will take you on a grand journey, you betcha!

LONG WHARF THEATRE STRIKES QUITE A PRODUCTION WITH "A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE"

Long ago and far away, former President Jimmy Carter admitted to the world infamously having looked upon “a lot of women with lust. I’ve committed adultery in my heart many times.” Famously Rodney Dangerfield built his comic career with the saying, “I don’t get no respect.” These two disparate announcements are tied together with strong rope in a strangely unique way in Arthur Miller’s dramatic production “A View from the Bridge” by Long Wharf Theatre until Sunday, March 10. If you are a lover of extraordinary theatre, you shouldn’t miss this opportunity.

Long Wharf has started a new tradition, matching the play with where it is produced. In an ideal pairing this play about the obsession of a longshore- man is being staged at New Haven’s Canal Dock Boathouse with a view of New Haven Harbor, with scores of seagulls swirling overhead, on a set designed by You-Shin Chen. Come meet the strong minded Eddie, powerfully portrayed by Dominic Fumusa, who is proud of his work ethic and demands respect for how he lives his life. His wife Beatrice, a caring and devoted Annie Parisse, loves him but sees his flaws and is quite aware that her sister’s daughter Catherine, a lovely and obedient Paten Hughes, is an obsession to Eddie. They have been raising here for years and now his hold on her has not matured now that she is grown young woman.

When Beatrice invites her two cousins from Italy to move in with them, so Marco, a grateful Antonio Magro who needs to support his wife and three children one of whom has tuberculosis, and a young and eager Rudolpho, ambitious in the hands of Mark Junek, who loves to sing, cook and make dresses, the Carbone household changes forever. The cousins are entering the country illegally and must watch their behavior so they are not discovered and arrested. If so, they will be sent back to their homeland.

When Eddie sees the influence and growing affection between Catherine and Rudolpho, he jealously tries to stop it, even consulting a neighborhood attorney, receiving Patricia Black’s cautioning advice, to see how he can legally stop their relationship. Eddie decides Rudolpho is using Catherine to ensure he can marry her and be a legal citizen and at the same time disguise his true sexuality. Eddie’s friends at work. played by Mike Boland and Todd Cerveris, weave in and out of the story.

Storm clouds are brewing and threaten to explode in violence. Eddie, in clinging to his demand for respect and control, commits an act destined to change lives. Catherine tries to declare her independence while Beatrice recognizes her fate and the condemning truth. The cousins are forced to watch their new worlds implode. This drama directed by James Dean Palmer will sear your brain with its stranglehold for a long time to come.

For tickets ($49-59, K-12 $0, college $10), call Long Wharf Theatre at 203-693-1486 or online at boxoffice@longwharf.org. Performances are Wednesday at 7 p.m., Thursday at 10:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Do not miss this tale of family, connections, immigration, home and the needs for control, respect and love and how this cauldron can boil out of its vessel instead of simply simmering with a mixture of flavors seasoned to taste.

DISCOVER THE TREASURE HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT IN "THE GARBOLOGISTS"

Whether you call them sanitation workers, trash men, refuse scientists, garbage men or by the more loftier term of garbologists, the people who collect your discards perform a most necessary task each week. They diligently take away items of paper and plastic, broken debris, discarded waste, that you no longer need or want, and carry it for burial at a dump site. Your trash men can clearly translate your junk into their newly discovered treasure. Have you ever thought about these dedicated servants? Have their lives ever intrigued your imagination? What are their backgrounds and their stories?

For a multitude of answers, follow the garbage truck directly to TheaterWorks Hartford by Sunday, February 25 for an intimate peek inside the vehicle in question as Lindsay Joelle's “The Garbologists” reveals the new relationship of veteran worker Danny, a dedicated to his job Jeff Brooks, as he explains in great detail the workings of his profession to recently hired Marlowe, created by Bebe Nicole Simpson.

As partners, Danny and Marlowe seem on the surface to be worlds apart. Yet, layer by layer, like a newly peeled onion, the audience is privileged to uncover their stories, that Danny is a father who is not allowed to see his son and Marlowe has lost her son to cancer. Danny has been a garbage man for years and lost the respect of his co-workers while Marlowe has significant college literary degrees that make her choice of occupation a mystery. How their lives cross in significant ways is at the heart and humanity of the play and is well worth unraveling.

Rob Ruggiero skillfully directs these talented actors to reveal how life has treated them and why they will forever be connected. For tickets ($25-70), call TheaterWorks Hartford, 233 Pearl Street, Hartford at 860-527-7838 or online at twhartford.org. Performance are Tuesday (with beer and pizza before) at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Come early or stay late for a delicious cup of Mezzie’s ice cream.

Learn a lesson that these people who risk their lives keeping your streets and homes clean are too often viewed as invisible, yet they perform a necessary task that deserves our gratitude and respect and certainly appreciation.

WARM UP TO THE MAGIC OF "DISNEY FROZEN " AT THE BUSHNELL

Hands are especially wonderful for hugs. They are also quite useful for gripping knives, forks and spoons for eating, holding a five card straight in poker, embracing hands to dance a tango, writing illuminating lines of poetry, and any number of necessary every day tasks But what might you do if your hands were a source of danger, so powerful you had to wear gloves to protect others from your potential potency. Is it a curse, a hex or a magical gift?

To discover the answer, venture to the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford to fall under the spell of the captivating musical “Disney FROZEN” until Sunday, February 18,with music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez and book by Jennifer Lee, based on the original movies. Like a fairy tale come to life, travel to a land where two sisters, Elsa and Anna, play happily in the castle. Young Elsa is played by Erin Choi and Savannah Lumar and young Anna by Annie Piper Braverman and Emma Origenes. As the two girls innocently play, Elsa accidentally injures Anna with her powerful spell. Because of that mistake, Elsa hides herself from Anna for fear that she will cause her more harm in the future.

Their parents, Queen Iduna, Katie Mariko Murray, suffers from the same fate as Elsa, and King Agnarr, Kyle Lamar Mitchell, travel from their kingdom and are lost at sea leaving their now grown up daughter Elsa to take the crown as Queen. Elsa is now portrayed by Caroline Bowman and Anna by Lauren Nicole Chapman, both spectacular in their roles, both protective of each other for fear of causing more harm.

Enter Hans, Preston Perez, who quickly professes his love of Anna, Evan Duff’s Weselton, who also has interesting desires, a humble ice man Kristoff portrayed by Dominic Dorset who wants to protect the sisters, Sven the reindeer in a role shared by Collin Baja and Dan Plehal who adds humor to the tale and the friendly Olaf the snowman captured sweetly by Jeremy Davis. The special effects are glorious as ice castles appear in striking color. The great direction is due to Michael Grandage, the choreography by Rob Ashford and music supervision by Stephen Oremus.

For tickets (from $34 and up), call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at https://bushnell.org. Performances are Tuesday to Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Encourage children to sign their name on a snowflake to benefit charity.

Your heart will melt as FROZEN casts a magic spell that is sure to mesmerize you with its message of love, hope and beauty.

GO TO PLAYHOUSE ON PARK FOR A COMIC, FEMINIST SLANT ON HOLMES AND WATSON

Who doesn’t love a good mystery? But what if it is stuffed with duels and umbrellas, smoke bombs, skeletons, red herrings, assorted dead people (even in bathtubs) at least a pair of villains and a doctor with a very obvious aversion to blood? Get your magnifying glasses and finger printing kits ready for a workout as Playhouse on Park playfully produces Kate Hamill’s funny and slightly frustrating “Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson -Apt.2B” ready for clues and evidence gathering until Sunday, February 18. Be sure you get a good night’s sleep before you venture forth as the speed of the action and dialogue is full fast forward.

An American doctor desperately needs a change of scene and she innocently enters the apartment of one Sherlock Holmes, yes it can be a female name without surcombing to Shirley, to rent a space as a roommate. Kelly Letorneau’s Joan Watson is spunky and adventurous enough that she doesn’t run screaming at the first sight of adversity when the accommodating landlady Mrs. Hudson, a fast talking Megan McDermott, first opens the apartment door. The audience already knows it is in for an interesting encounter when Nick Nudler lays the groundwork for an unusual series of events soon to transpire.

Think mayhem and merriment and chaos and comedy. Enter the enigmatic master detective played by an intriguing Kirsten Peacock and the game is quite quickly afoot. Soon bodies are splayed and displayed all over London and Holmes and Watson are awash in victims with plenty of clues to examine. To add a bit of mystery to the confusion, Nudler and McDermott assume various villains from Holmes’ past to add an urgency to finding solutions. Thanks to Kelly O’Donnell’s clever direction, on Lindsey G. Fuori's charming set, with a playroom of playful props assembled by Amber Gebert Goldsmith, in addition to a lobby full of footsteps to set up the plot, this production is delightful detective distraction.

For tickets ($42.50 for seniors, students and military on tiers, to $55.00 ), call Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road, West Hartford at 860- 523-5900, ext. 10 or online at playhouseonpark.org. Performances are Tuesday at 2 p.m., Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. followed by a talkback with the cast.

On Sunday, February 18 from 6-9 p.m., Tracy and Darlene, two of the theater’s artistic directors, are celebrating their birthdays and you are invited. The caveat is that you must bring them a gift from the Playhouse’s Wishlist. Fun, games, food and drink will be added to a reunion cabaret performance by the original Falcetti Four, featuring Colin Britt on piano. The Playhouse is also working to meet its goal of raising $30,000 and would welcome your financial support. If you donate $5 or more in February, they will add your name to their Wall of Love.

Who said murder can’t be fun? Don your deerstalker cap and jump feet first into the fray!